Haunting at Home Plate

Plot Summary

With only a few games left in the regular season, Nelson just wants to play baseball and maybe, one day, realize his dream of pitching. Then his manager is suspended and two players leave the team. On top of that, it seems that the park where the team practices may be haunted.

Nelson convinces his cousin Mike (short for Michelle) to manage his team so the boys can stay together. It's Mike who tells them the story of the Andy Kirk, a boy who long ago fell from a cedar tree to his death while watching his older brother play ball. When messages to the team begin to appear in the dirt near home plate and are signed, AK, the team must decide what to make of them. Is the ghost of Andy Kirk trying to tell them something? And should the team do what the messages suggest?

David Patneaude combines his love of baseball with his passion for the supernatural in his latest home run for middle-grade readers.

Awards

2002-2003 Texas Lone Star Master List; 2002-2003 Volunteer State Book Award Intermediate Master List; 2002-2003 West Virginia Children's Book Award Master List; 2003 Garden State Children's Book Award Master List; 2003 Sasquatch Reading Award Master List; 2003-2004 Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards Master List; 2003-2004 Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Master List; 2003-2004 Young Hoosier Book Award Master List (Middle Grades)

Reviews

"This story is packed with action and suspense. The characters seem real and have a certain depth. Young readers who are interested in baseball and like a good mystery will find this title hard to beat." School Library Journal

"Most baseball yarns achieve suspense by recounting the runs, errors, steals, and near-misses of the game. Patneaude's latest includes all of the above, in addition to a ghost who seems to be coaching the team by leaving cryptic messages on the playing field. . . . Patneaude punches up with play-by-plays that rival the commentary of a real-life sports announcer. Fans of baseball and of stories about the paranormal will get their fill from this absorbing novel." Booklist

"Sports fiction and ghost story are effectively combined in the well-paced novel."
The Horn Book Guide

"David Patneaude mixes just the right amounts of mystery and baseball to create a lively, intriguing story."
Children's Literature

Associated Keywords
baseball, boys, ghost stories, supernatural, sports, sport